MTA’s budget appears headed for failure

At least that’s what KCBS reports, based on efforts led by Board President David Chiu. “I happen to think that this particular budget does not serve San Francisco well,” he said, and it’s hard not to agree.

As the Bay Guardian‘s Tim Redmond points out, the fare hike will disproportionately affect those who don’t have other transit alternatives, sending the middle-class back to their cars and the fully abled back to their bikes, leaving the poor and the handicapped to foot the bill. End result: No likely revenue increase for MUNI.

Redmond also backs my point, made Friday, that raising parking prices is the better bet. After all, if demand drops off due to higher prices, the city still wins. Also problematic is that the MTA did not hit drivers and riders equally. According to Fran Taylor on BeyondChron, “Fare hikes and service cuts to riders will provide about four times the revenue that will come from increased fees and fines for parking.”

Also missing from the budget? Pay cuts for executives and a more reasonable rate for 311 calls, which cost $2 a piece (although, admittedly, better service would mean fewer of these calls).

Meanwhile, all the promises of accountability that came in the TEP planning have been thrown out the window. Service cuts are no longer compensated for by more frequent runs on other lines, even in theory. And the MTA’s response to my earlier posts suggests that the agency has elevated studies on service changes almost to an end in themselves, but has done no such studying of the effects of fare increases.

But you know what else seems missing from the budget cuts? The city stepping in to help. Let’s be honest: Once fares go up, they won’t come back down, nor will axed routes be resurrected. And decent transit is a quality of life issue, a point of pride for a city vying for the title of greenest in the nation, and a service most needed by populations that deserve public protection. The MTA is hardly perfect, but it doesn’t help that the city repeatedly hangs the agency out to dry.

I’m hoping KCBS has got this one right. The Sups will consider the matter at an 11 a.m. meeting on May 7.